TOLEDO, OH – Toledo bounced back from a loss in its Mid-American Conference opener with a convincing 84-67 triumph over Akron (10-5, 1-1 MAC) on Friday evening in Savage Arena.

The Rockets (9-6, 1-1 MAC) shot 56.3 percent from the field, including a sizzling 81.8 percent (9-of-11) from behind the three-point arc. That long-distance accuracy was UT’s best ever in a conference contest and the second-best in school history.

Drummond and junior center Nathan Boothe each grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to help Toledo control the glass by a 35-27 margin.

Akron (10-5, 1-1) had just two players in double figures. Nyles Evans led the way with 13 points, followed by Pat Forsythe with 10. (CLICK READ MORE TO CONTINUE . . . )

UT’s aggressiveness on the offensive end resulted in a season-high 32 free-throw attempts, over twice as many as the Zips’ 15 trips to the charity stripe. The Rockets limited Akron to 40.4 FG percent and a 29.6 three-point FG perfent (8-of-27), including 2-of-12 from long range in the final 20 minutes. Akron jumped out to an early 11-5 advantage thanks to a trio of three-pointers, but UT tallied eight in a row to take its first lead of 13-11. The lead then changed hands six more times before the Rockets ended the half with a 9-2 burst. Weatherspoon tallied seven points during that stretch, including a buzzer-beating 30-footer to give UT a 37-34 lead at halftime. The Rockets carried that momentum into the second stanza with six more points and a 43-34 cushion. UT gained its first double-digit lead, 51-41, on a Williams’ trey with 14:28 to play. The Zips were able to reduce their deficit to four points on two separate occasions but couldn’t come any closer. Toledo ended any hopes of an Akron comeback with a 10-2 burst that was capped off by another Williams’ three-pointer for a 71-57 lead with 6:25 left.

The Rockets return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 14 with a trip to Athens, OH to battle Ohio University at 7:00 p.m. The Bobcats will play at Bowling Green on Saturday before returning home.(Courtesy of Toledo Athletics/MRO Edit)

Comments are closed.

Publisher﻿

Mike Smith saw his first MAC footb﻿a﻿ll action as a nine-year-old while hanging onto the flagpole of a nearby baseball stadium. The view got better after he discovered he could get in free at halftime. Decades later, he can usually be found either on press row or along the sidelines.Mike has won awards for both his stories and pictures during his time in journalism. Combining his own skills with those of other writers and photographers, along with conference and school resources, he constantly works to provide an enjoyable MAC product.